Half the world away

Chapter 1

I was sitting in the office looking out of the window. I was answering emails and typing reports out. The same things I had been doing for the past 3 years. It's not very exciting, but it pays the bills.
I am called Genna Stewart, and I am 23. I have 2 loves in my life. Panic! At The Disco and my best friend Patsy. I have parents, sure. But they don't agree with my life choices, so I have very little to do with them. Christmas and that's it, really.
I live in England. On the south east coast in a town called Hastings. Named after that battle in 1066. It's not very exciting. Nothing ever happens here. Like ever!
My life is boring 😴. I have my own little flat. It's nothing special, but it's mine. You can't say that I don't have goals, getting a mortgage at the grand old age of 22.
There is a ray of light on the horizon, though. Next month Patsy and I get to see Panic! At The Disco in concert again at the 02 in London. We were staying a couple of nights there. Do some sightseeing. Not to mention, this time, we have a meet and greet with them and backstage passes. We did back on Vices and Virtues tour, but my parents bought the tickets.
Death of a bachelor tour was amazing. He did the death walk, and he recognised us both. We fangirled hard.
I am currently single. I was in a relationship for 2 years. He wanted the old, get married and settle down, and have kids. No, thank you. It's not that I don't want all that, I do. Just not with my ex.
I believe in soul mates, do you? I believe that there's that one person out there for everyone.
Patsy believes in the one. The one night stand. She doesn't want the settling down life at the moment, either. She's enjoying her 20s.
Patsy and I have known each other for about 5 years. We met on a night out and immediately clicked. We found that we liked mostly everything the other one liked. She's a good friend and always succeeds in raising my serotonin levels.
Ohh yea, Patsy has jet black hair and icy blue eyes. Her hair is short. She's curvy like me, and we are both around the same height, 5ft 5in. I have long, wavy auburn hair with flecks of gold and blonde in it. I have blue eyes, too.
Anyway, back to the story. I was still staring out of the window. It was 3 in the afternoon and sunny. It was cold, I mean, it's late October. I observed primary school children spilling out of the gates, opposite our office building. Parents were all bundled up, patiently waiting for their children to appear. I sighed and carried on with my work. I was just happy it was Friday.
"Genna?" I hear my manager call my name.
"Yep?" I ask, not even looking up from the computer.
"Any chance you can work this weekend?"
Now, I don't know about you, but my weekends are precious to me. They are my time to have fun, let my hair down, and stay in bed for as long as possible. My manager always asks, every weekend. He always gets the same answer. No. I like Mr. Sykes. He's in his late fifties, early sixties. He's due to retire soon, I know that much. He has silver hair and wears varifocals. He's always been good to me since I started. I always get my work done on time, too.
"Mr Sykes, does my answer ever change?" I ask him. He chuckles and shakes his head. I carry on working until there's no more tasks for me to do. I power down my computer and put my coat on, pick up my bag, and say goodbye to all my work colleagues.
I text Patsy as soon as I get into the lift.
'Hey, Patsy, you good?'
'Hi babes. Yea, I am sound. Are you ready for tonight?'
'Of course. It's been a fuckin stressful week. I seriously need to unwind.'
Patsy worked at a fashion magazine. You may have heard of it. It's called Vogue.
As I left my building I walked towards home. I popped into the local Sainsbury's and got some snacks and wine.
I walked home to my little flat and unlocked the door. I took my boots off and groaned with the relief I felt, taking them off.

At 6pm, Patsy knocked on my door and she had brought company with her. 2 guys to be precise. They were called Dick and Richie. Yea I dunno where she finds these people either, in all honesty.
I went to pour some drinks out and Dick was talking to me in the kitchen. Judging from our conversation, he doesn't seem to have much depth to him. I asked him how he felt about different world events and he had no idea what I was talking about. I rolled my eyes and took the drinks through. Patsy was flirting with Richie. He was really into her. Patsy turned to face me and we caught up. We hadn't seen each other since Sunday night. She had been in Paris until this morning. Richie had an arm around Patsy as we chatted. I felt Dick sit next to me. He attempted to put his arm around me and I shrugged him off. Richie was about to light a cigarette up and I said not in my flat. Go outside. When they both disappeared outside, I looked at Patsy.
"For real, Pats?" I asked her.
"What? He's sexy."
"Yea yours might be, but mines a dud. Ok, he's pretty to look at, but that's all there is. He has no substance." Patsy rolled her eyes.
"Gen, babe. It's just a fuck. Don't read anything into it." I don't want 'just a fuck'. I want the whole fairytale. I blame Disney, personally. They give young girls an unobtainable impression of love.